Time and talent on Tigers side

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What do you do when you are not playing the game well? You might go to a different teacher. Maybe you would try to do some work on your own to find your game. You may switch putters, just to see if another blade might be more comfortable. Chances are, you would probably switch back to the old flatstick after two or three rounds because the changes just didn’t work out quite as well as you wanted.

If that previous paragraph fits you, congratulations! You may now utter the line that Nike wanted us all to say more than a decade ago.

'I am Tiger Woods.'

Don’t be confused. Tiger Woods has left more talent residue on his putter grip (whichever putter he is using) than most of us have in our entire bodies. But when things go wrong, he does what we all do.

We search. And we don’t always find what we are looking for.

On my Twitter feed, I am seeing some people I respect question whether Tiger will ever get it back again. With all the things swirling around him over the past eight months, it is a fair question. It is also reactionary ... and wrong.

Tiger Woods is 34 years old. Just to refresh your memory, Phil Mickelson just won a major championship at nearly 40 years old. Jack Nicklaus won a major at 46. Tiger may be an “old” 34. But, ask anyone if they would rather be a “young” 44 or an “old” 34 in competitive golf. I am guessing Tiger’s position does not look nearly as bad in that light.

Tiger Woods may never reach the heights he showed in his best years. He may spend much of the next year searching for the game that can win a major championship. But, time and talent are on his side.

And while he searches for his game, reflect on how easy he made the game look when you and I were the only ones searching for the best way to play golf… not him.

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Walker joined Golf Channel in 2008 and is an anchor/reporter for Golf Central.